Domestic Assault – R. v. Brighton

Facts: Alfred and Janice have been married for approximately 3 years and have a young child together. The two had an altercation over several issues including stolen earphones. The argument escalated and Janice revealed that she knew Alfred had frequented bi-sexual websites. She uttered a homophobic slur repeatedly.

This enraged Alfred. He body-checked Janice into the wall and smashed a dishrack full of baby bottles onto the floor. He then threw some of them at Janice. When she used the phone to call for help he ripped the cord from the wall and smashed the phone as well, rendering it inoperable. Following a lull in the argument he smashed her into another wall and pushed her over a baby gate, which caused her to fall. After she stood up he placed her in a headlock until she was able to escape.